


Coffee and Sunglasses

by GlassesOfJustice



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Awesome Maria Hill, Female Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 14:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19402291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassesOfJustice/pseuds/GlassesOfJustice
Summary: Maria drops in on the farm to check on Laura after Clint uses his off the books farmhouse as an Avengers safe house.





	Coffee and Sunglasses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/gifts).



Laura was washing up dishes from breakfast when she spotted a black Dodge Charger, coated in a fresh layer of dust, pulling into her driveway. Laura hadn’t been home for more than an hour since she dropped Connor and Lila at school. The Bartons didn’t receive many visitors to the farm and the conspicuous arrival brought her out onto the porch. 

The muscle car was clearly a rental, and a woman was driving it. Nat had been to the farm so many times now that she knew how to blend in out here, but if it wasn’t Nat, Laura wasn’t sure who her visitor might be. The woman that emerged had dark hair, wore blue fitted jeans over brown boots and a v-neck white t-shirt. She removed her sunglasses and squinted toward the porch. She must have spotted Laura because she put her hand up in a slight wave, maybe trying to indicate she wasn’t a threat. She hung her sunglasses on her shirt, closed the door and started walking toward Laura.

Before the woman got too close, Laura called out in an exaggerated drawl, “You lost?”

“I work with Barton,” the woman said, as if that explained everything.

_Oh, God_. Suddenly, Laura’s stomach dropped. “He isn’t?” Laura’s voice was in her throat.

The woman closed the distance quickly, taking the porch steps two at a time. She grabbed Laura by the forearms. “Oh, no, Laura, no, Barton’s fine. That's not why I’m here.” 

She knows my name, Laura fleetingly thought, before passing out. 

“Breathe,” The woman commanded as Laura regained consciousness cradled in her arms. They made eye contact and she squeezed Laura’s wrist. “My name is Maria. Let’s go inside and get you a glass of water." 

Laura inhaled a shaky breath, and then another one. She used to dread the day that Nat would show up and tell her Clint had died. She always wondered who would notify her if they died on a mission together; that is, if she hadn’t seen them meet their demise on TV first. Maybe it would be this woman, Maria, had she said? She never imagined herself passing out. 

Before Laura knew it Maria had escorted her into her own kitchen and had her seated at their tall counter with a glass of water. Laura took tiny sips and focused on each breath as it filled up her lungs, on the feel of her rib cage pushing up against her chest.

"Commander Maria Hill," Laura said softly, thumb rubbing over the embossed letters on the Stark Industries business card Maria had placed in front of her. Despite drinking half a glass of water, her throat still felt dry. 

"You can just call me Maria, or Hill. Whatever you are comfortable with. Honestly, my friend Pepper insisted I order business cards, but I rarely ever use them. I just thought maybe seeing my name in print might help.”

Cottonmouth aside, Laura had mostly regained her composure, but Maria still made her uneasy. Maria wasn't at all how she'd pictured the woman when Clint had mentioned her in the past; she was far cooler and less rigid than she ever imagined. Still, she wasn't sure what she owed the pleasure to. “Honestly, Maria, if Clint’s not dead, I’m not sure why you’re here.”

Maria stood opposite Laura, her sunglasses discarded on the surface between them. Maria's forearms rested on the counter, hands loosely intertwined together; now that she was closer Laura could see how toned Maria’s arms were, how even her jaw flexed while she formulated her next move. Laura assessed Maria’s presence as understated but imposing. 

“Look, I would like to say Fury sent me, but he has his hands full at the moment. In truth, I came out here for my own reasons. I used to be the only other person besides Fury who knew about this place, but obviously that’s all changed. I know how important you and the kids are to Clint. He told me everything was good. I wanted to come see for myself, to look you in the eye and ask if you’ve thought about relocating?”

“I’ll admit, it’s not everyday Thor shows up in your living room, steps on some legos and then flies to another universe with nothing but a hammer. But, I don’t think that’s changed much. We’re set up out here. We have a community. I don’t think I could drag the kids away even if I wanted to.”

“Speaking of the kids. . .”

Laura got the sense Maria had something delicate to ask, or something she perceived as delicate. 

“Just say it Maria,” Laura implored. 

The coffee pot beeped, alerting them to a fresh pot. Maria turned toward the coffee pot which Laura really didn’t remember Maria starting. “I hope you don’t mind, I started some coffee while you were staring into your water. I took a red-eye and I suspected, _hoped_ , a Barton household would have some real coffee.”

“I see Clint’s reputation precedes him.”

Maria poured coffee into a ceramic mug. Returning to the counter she said, “He makes it as black as tar. Reminds me of my time in the Air Force.” Maria took a sip and smiled. Laura returned a smile of her own. 

“That’s my Clint. So, what were you saying about the kids?” Laura raised an eyebrow at Maria, daring her to feign ignorance. Nathaniel kicked, as if he knew they were talking about him.

“Do you trust them?”

“What kind of question is that?” Laura instinctively rubbed her belly. 

“Laura, this is serious. Your safety is my main concern. Can they keep their mouths shut? Can they resist telling their friends at school they’ve met Captain America when they get into a jam? All we need is the tabloids printing ‘Alien spotted in Missouri’ with a blurry B&W photo of Thor next to it.”

Laura bit the inside of her cheek, taking her time before giving Maria an answer. “They won’t say anything.”

“Are you sure?” Maria sipped more coffee.

Laura nodded. “I’m sure. They know their dad’s life depends on it. We had a long talk after they left.” Laura dropped her gaze to her water glass again. She felt Maria’s hand close over hers. “I’m sure,” Laura said again. Maria squeezed Laura’s hand and then pushed off the counter, returning her sunglasses to their perch on her shirt. 

“Good.” Maria clapped her hands together, closing the discussion. “So, what does one do out here for fun?”

“I recently built an axe throwing target,” Laura replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly. 

“I’d like to try that sometime.” The glimmer of competitiveness in Maria’s eye made Laura think Maria was genuinely interested.

“It’s just on the other side of the barn if you want to try throwing a few. We can go out now and I’ll show you.” The possibility of a new friend who might share her interest in more unusual hobbies excited Laura.

“I’d love to, but I really need to get back and check on the team.” Maria drained her coffee and placed the cup in the sink. She came around and stood next to Laura’s stool. “I’m sorry for startling you earlier.” 

“It’s okay. Thanks for coming to check on me. On us.” Laura held her stomach and gave Maria a small smile.

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Laura said, pushing off from her stool. She laced her arm around Maria’s and allowed her rounder than usual body to sway into Maria as they walked to the front porch. The warm feeling of having made a new friend bubbled inside her.

“Thanks again for the coffee,” Maria said descending the porch steps.

“Hey Maria?” Laura ventured.

“Yeah?” Maria said, turning back to face her.

“Next time, call first okay?” 

“Deal.” Maria put her sunglasses on and headed for her car.

“And don’t be a stranger now!” Laura called, her exaggerated drawl returned.

Maria casually saluted her, as if she was touching a nonexistent hat, before climbing into the dusty rental and heading back out the way she came.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [donutsweeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper) and my wife for the beta.


End file.
